OwnTone vs Swing Music
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
OwnTone
Media server with AirPlay, Chromecast and Spotify support
VS
Swing Music
Self-hosted music player with a modern interface
| Feature | OwnTone | Swing Music |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,535 | ★ 2,035 |
| First released | 2009 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Spotify, Apple Music | Spotify, Apple Music |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is OwnTone or Swing Music better?
Neither is universally better. OwnTone has the larger community, while Swing Music is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OwnTone and Swing Music free and open-source?
Yes. OwnTone is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Swing Music under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OwnTone and Swing Music with Docker?
OwnTone: yes. Swing Music: yes.